Harissa Chickpea Stew

I’d like you to know something incredibly weird and personal about me.

Whenever I get sad, anxious, elated, nervous…something happens. It’s really strange. Like, I dunno why it does this, but my nose does this weird twitch thing. It’s like Bewitched, except totally not cute and definitely not deliberate. There’s no explanation and it hasn’t done this my whole life just recently actually, in the past few years. All my energy goes to my nose and tells me that it doesn’t like something (or does)!

On Saturday this happened to me. It was a combination of 3/4 parts sad and 1/4 parts anxious (in re: of a project I’m working on). Also, something I learned: coffee totally doesn’t help. It makes it twitch faster. Yes, coffee makes it go faster…by a lot. This is weird. And it’s weirder that I’m sharing this. But really we’re friends by now and you should know that when crazy emotions run through my body, my nose reacts. The end.

1. It’s vegan, though it doesn’t have to be. Add chicken. The original recipe does and it looks delicious that way. I recommend cooking up a few chicken thighs before (in the same pot!) you start making the stew.

2. Thirty minutes is all you need to throw this together.

3. It’s cheeeap. I dunno. Probably under $10?

4. Harissa. I put it on everything. Eggs, toast with avocado, chicken, etc. You should too. It’s about $6 for the tube and lasts a good while.

This stew was designed to cure some of that February cold that won’t go away.

For me, I’m using it as a hug as I listen to some sappy music (example 1 and example 2) and muscle through this work.

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Add minced shallot and cook until translucent, about 3 minutes. Place garlic atop of shallots and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Next, add the cumin, harissa (note! if you’re adverse to heat scale it back to 1 tablespoon) and tomato paste; stir until a smooth paste forms, about 1 minute.

2. Add vegetable broth, water and bay leaves. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, occasionally stirring, for about 20 minutes.

3. Transfer chickpeas to pot; bring to a simmer and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Salt to taste. I added about 1 1/2 teaspoons of kosher salt. Throw in red peppers and yellow peppers; simmer for 1 minute. Divide stew into 4 bowls, squeeze lemon on top and sprinkle with Italian parsley. Serve with bread.

This looks so good, perfect for cold, dark, February evenings. I’ve been seeing so many recipes that want harissa recently, I’m definitely intrigued. Not to to mention, I just bought some more chickpeas…this recipe seems to be in my meal planning cards 🙂

My eye does that! Actually I don’t know what triggers it, but it’s probably stress. And every time I ask someone to look at it to tell me if they can notice my eye twitching it stops. And then comes back later. So weird!
Your stew looks delicious! Love that you made a vegan version, sometimes that’s just what I want 🙂

Oh, I’m sure I came across that recipe in last month’s Bon Appetit, but your version is so much more relevant since I made a big batch of harissa last weekend! I used Mourad’s recipe and I’ve been adding it to everything. I love chickpeas so I have no doubt I’d love this stew!

Just looked up Harissa after reading this post. Looks yummy! Thanks for introducing me to it! Now, if I could just develop a taste for chickpeas. Certainly healthy. Wish I had the willpower you do, then I’d go for them over chocolate 🙂

I so want to make this. It’s pretty hard to come by some good chickpeas in a can here though. How should I make it if I use fresh ones??? Cook them up separately and add them in the end? or should I use more broth and cook them in the broth? sorry if that’s a stupid question ^^

[…] Harissa is a hot red pepper paste used in North African cooking. I saw harissa listed in a recipe somewhere and had no idea what it was. So I looked it up. Since then I feel like I have been seeing it everywhere! It’s funny how that happens. This is one of the recipes that I have happened upon from A Cozy Kitchen. […]

I made this last night and thickened it with a little flour at the end and served it with a side of basmati rice.
It was so amazing, delicious, healthy and hearty. This will be added to the rotation!
Do not forget the parsley and lemon.

I LOVE this recipe!! I have made it several times and it always tastes delicious and makes me feel warm and cozy inside. I also like to throw in a big bunch of kale when it is simmering, and that adds a little extra green to make it a balanced meal. I eat it in a big warm bowl with crusty french bread and a scoop of greek yogurt on top 🙂